


A Place Called Home, Right Next to You

by BANANNA527



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 09:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13971999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BANANNA527/pseuds/BANANNA527
Summary: In a tower isolated from the rest of the world, a young prince teaches a lonely dragon how to love again.





	A Place Called Home, Right Next to You

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #72
> 
> This is now my fourth fest and I think I might be addicted. To be honest, I was so excited for this fest; I love krisoo so much (don't talk to me TT) and as soon as I saw this fest on my tl I knew I had to join.
> 
> I hope the prompter is able to like what I have done with their prompt. I tried to keep it light on the angst, I hope it's not overbearing. I hope this was close to what you had in mind??????
> 
> I don't know, I just really like a krisoo that joke around with each other a lot and also talk out their problems rather than letting it get to the point where there's no hope.
> 
> Big thank you to the mods who have put in so much effort to make this fest happen and to all the writers and prompters and betas for contributing :)) I hope to be able to join again next year for round two :)))
> 
> <3<3<3<3

Kyungsoo doesn’t remember much of his life before Yifan. He remembers being born in a large castle to a royal family. He had some brothers and sisters; some were older, some were younger, and he was in the middle. Normally, the middle prince of a royal family gets to live his life comfortably. No serious responsibilities like his elder siblings, and no rush to marry him off to another kingdom like his younger siblings. However, for Kyungsoo to be a middle prince in his particular kingdom meant one thing– _payment_. Because the kingdom Kyungsoo was born into was guarded by a dragon; this dragon being one called Yifan. In return for his services, it was the duty of the royal family to give the dragon their middle child.

Normally, the exchange would happen when the child came of age, but this was not the case with Kyungsoo. When Kyungsoo was five years old, peace negotiations with the neighbouring kingdom went south. War broke out and for the sake of their son, Kyungsoo’s parents sent him off into the woods, to sit underneath the same old willow tree that they had used for countless generations, with a note to express their apologies to the dragon for springing their son on him so soon.

The only things Kyungsoo can recall from that day are waiting for a long time, long past the sunset and deep into the evening, falling asleep curled up against the tree, and waking up in a large bed, surrounded by blankets, a white wolf curled asleep by his feet.

At first, Kyungsoo was scared of Yifan. The dragon loomed over him, sparsely spoke, and walked around his tower with a constant scowl. Kyungsoo thought that the creature would burn him to a crisp like in the stories his brothers used to tell him.

The white wolf on the other hand, Kyungsoo warmed up to very quickly. The young prince had learned early on that the wolf was a shifter, and that he was called Chanyeol. Chanyeol described himself as Yifan’s friend; he’d accompany the dragon on his journeys and run to town for supplies. Yifan didn’t allow people from Kyungsoo’s country to see him in his human form as he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. Chanyeol was also tall, but his ears stuck out, and that made him less scary to the young prince. His hair, like his fur, was white as snow and soft to the touch. Whenever Kyungsoo was feeling scared or lonely, Chanyeol would shift into his wolf and let the little prince pet him until he fell asleep, his face buried in the soft fur.

It was thanks to Chanyeol that Kyungsoo was able to get through the first two years.

 

––––––––––

 

On Kyungsoo’s seventh birthday, Yifan began to try and spend time with him. He had just gotten back from some foreign land, and on the morning of the prince’s birthday, the dragon came into his room presented him with a gift. It was a necklace made of cowry, strung together with string made from reeds; Yifan held it out for the boy in his oversized palm, “Here,” he said, his voice deep and cool, “It’s your birthday, isn’t it?”

Sitting up in his bed, Kyungsoo reached out and grabbed the necklace with his tiny hand; he nodded, “Thank you Mr. Dragon.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Yifan said, “It is your birthday after all.”

“How did you know that, Mr. Dragon?” Kyungsoo asked, looking up at Yifan with wide, curious eyes.

“I know a lot of things, Mr. Prince.” Yifan reached out his hand and ruffled Kyungsoo’s hair. The smaller stiffened, but only for a moment, relaxing once he realized that there was no danger.

Kyungsoo looked down at the necklace in his hands, “Where is this from?” he asked, running his thumb over one of the shells.

“Far away,” Yifan answered, “By the sea.”

“What is the sea?”

“It’s like a pond,” Yifan looked out the window and watched the snowfall, “But bigger and bluer. It’s also salty.”

“Do you like the sea, Mr. Dragon?” The little prince asked, still looking at the necklace.

Yifan nodded, “It’s very beautiful, and very warm.”

“I’d like to go there.” Kyungsoo declared, “Will I ever be able to?”

“Maybe,” the dragon sighed, “When you get older.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Yifan smiled, “I think you’d like it there.” He looked back at Kyungsoo, focusing on the necklace in his hands, “Do you want me to help you with that?”

The prince nodded.

“Turn around.” Yifan said, waiting for the boy to turn around before sitting on the bed behind him, “Hand me the necklace.”

Kyungsoo reached back and placed the necklace in Yifan’s outstretched palm. He sat calmly, staring at the ornate headboard of the bed as the dragon fumbled with the jewelry, tying it behind his neck in a tight knot 

“Is it too tight?”

Kyungsoo shook his head; it fit just right, “I like it.” He ran his fingers over the shells, “Thank you, Mr. Dragon.”

“What did I just say about thanking me?” Yifan sighed, slightly frustrated.

“I’m sorry…” Kyungsoo said, lowering his head in shame.

“No no,” Yifan ruffled the prince’s hair, “You don’t have to be sorry, you were just trying to be polite. It’s just that…” He eyed the room nervously, “You don’t have to worry about those kinds of things with me. I’m not gonna eat you or anything like that.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah,” Yifan smiled, “I know I’ve not been the best or anything like that, it’s just that…” He sighed not knowing how he should put it, “I’m not really good with kids, is all.”

Kyungsoo turned around to face the dragon, “What do you mean?’

“Well,” Yifan scratched the back of his neck in an uncharacteristic act of nervousness, “My tower isn’t really designed with kids in mind. There’s no toys or anything like that, and all the books are really grown up.”

“Books?” The young prince asked, obviously intrigued, “You have books Mr. Dragon?”

“Yes?” Yifan answered, confused, “Didn’t Chanyeol show you the book room?”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “Channie said that there were some rooms I couldn’t go in because they were for your collections.”

Yifan buried his face in his palm and groaned, “That stupid dog…” he stood from the bed, “The only room that's off limits is my bedchamber,” he offered his hand to the little prince, “Do you want to see the books?”

Kyungsoo nodded, shyly smiling as he took Yifan's hand, “I'd love to see the books Mr. Dragon.”

As it turns out, Yifan had more than a few books. The room–larger than any Kyungsoo had ever seen–was filled, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with books. The smell of old paper gave the young prince a sense of nostalgia that no child his age should feel. Even if he knew any of the titles, he'd have no clue where to start. Most of them seemed to be old, bound by worn leather with yellowing parchment, only a few short years away from crumbling into nothing.

“What do you think?” Yifan asked, obviously proud of his collection.

“There's so many!” Kyungsoo gasped, stepping closer to the pile, “How did you get them all?”

Yifan walked up to the pile and sat down before answering, “I just sort of picked them up here and there,” he grabbed one of the books and opened it to a random page, “They seemed lonely, so I brought them home.” He motioned for Kyungsoo to sit beside him, “You're free to come in here anytime and read whatever you'd like. Do you like reading?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo walked over and slowly sat beside the dragon; he peered over at the book, “I wasn’t that good at it before.”

“Really?” Yifan adjusted his hold on the book so Kyungsoo could get a better look at it, “If you want, I can read to you. I don’t know if it’d be fun or anything like that, but it might help you get better…” The dragon sounded unsure of his own words.

“You’d do that, Mr. Dragon?” Kyungsoo asked, looking up at Yifan with impossibly wide eyes, “Thank you!”

Yifan’s face flushed with embarrassment; he really had no idea how to deal with children, especially the little prince. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Yeah… It’s no problem.” He held the book up, “If you want, we can start this one.”

“What’s it about?” Kyungsoo asked, using his small hands to close the book so he could see the cover. He struggled a bit with the letters as he read aloud, “Sailing... Stories..” He looked up at Yifan, “What’s ‘sailing’?”

“Well,” Yifan said, turning the book to the first page, “If we read, you’ll find out. 

“Okay,” The young prince clambered onto the dragon’s lap and stared expectantly at the first page, “Thank you for reading to me, Mr. Dragon.”

Yifan chuckled, “I haven’t even started yet…”

“I know,” Kyungsoo said, leaning into the dragon’s chest, liking that it was warm before ending the conversation and letting Yifan start the book. Kyungsoo didn’t know what a lot of the words meant, but he didn’t feel like asking as he didn’t want to interrupt Yifan. He decided that he’d make a list in his head of all the big words and ask the dragon about them later. From what he could understand, the book was about people on a boat and all their adventures. Kyungsoo wanted to go on an adventure, but he didn’t think that that was going to happen, at least anytime soon.

He doesn’t remember when, but at some point throughout the morning, Kyungsoo ended up falling asleep in the dragon’s lap. He remembers his mind wandering at one point or another and his eyelids feeling heavy, but he doesn’t actually remember the exact moment when he dozed off. When he woke up, he was still sitting in Yifan’s lap, and much to his surprise, the dragon had also fallen asleep. The little prince looked up at his sleeping face and decided that Yifan wasn’t as scary as he thought he was.

 

––––––––––

 

After his seventh birthday, Kyungsoo gradually began to grow a little closer to Yifan. Whenever Yifan left the tower for long periods of time, which was more often than Kyungsoo would have liked, he’d always return with a present for the prince. Most of the time, they were little things, like stone charms and books, but sometimes the dragon would return with elaborate tapestries and ornate jackets from the north.

Chanyeol would always complain about how Yifan never brought him anything, to which the dragon would respond, “I gave you a place to live, I don’t owe you anything,” followed by a playful knock on the shoulder 

Comments like these allowed Kyungsoo to better understand their relationship.

When he was fifteen, Kyungsoo started to change; he had read about what it felt like to grow up in some of the many books Yifan had on the subject, but he wasn’t ready to actually experience it for himself. Part of him was glad that Yifan had gone out on some journey or another when it started, but the other part of him wanted the elder's advice. But since the dragon was gone, he turned to the only other person he knew–Chanyeol.

“Hey, Chanyeollie?” Kyungsoo sat next to the shifter, who was currently in his wolf dozing in the sunlight that came in through the window. Kyungsoo jostled the dog until he woke up, “Can I ask you about something?”

The wolf gave a curt nod before getting up and disappearing around the corner for a moment, reappearing in his human form. He had only bothered to put on a pair of pants as it was the peak of the summer season and he had a tendency to overheat in these conditions. Chanyeol unceremoniously plopped himself on the floor beside Kyungsoo and crossed his legs, “What’s up?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo said, playing with the hem of his shirt, “I just feel weird, and I don’t know why…”

“What kind of weird?” Chanyeol asked, “Like you’re sick?”

“Maybe?” Kyungsoo looked up at the wolf, “Is there a sickness that causes you to grow hair on your body?”

“Do you mean like this?” Chanyeol asked, raising his arm to show Kyungsoo the hair underneath, “Like on your armpits?” 

Kyungsoo nodded, “So you have it too?” He asked.

“Of course I have it!” Chanyeol laughed, “It's because I'm an adult.”

“Does that mean I'm an adult too?” Kyungsoo asked, leaning in a bit closer to Chanyeol, “Am I gonna be like you? Will I be able to turn into a dog too?”

“No, it doesn't work like that,” Chanyeol said, lowering his arm, “It means you're just starting to become an adult, and you won't be like me,” he said, “Because you're a human."

“Oh…” Kyungsoo paused, “Do you also have it… you know,” he didn’t know how to say it without sounding weird, “umm, like, do you have it umm…” he used his hands to gesture to his lower body, “Down… there?” 

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded, doing his best to not make the young prince feel any more embarrassed than he already was, “All adults have it.” He patted Kyungsoo on the back, “Don’t worry, you’re not sick or anything.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo asked, “But my whole body hurts, is that normal?”

Chanyeol nodded, “It’s just growing pains.” 

“Growing pains?”

“Oh my god,” Chanyeol buried his face in his hand and groaned in frustration, “You always have your face buried in some book, and you still haven’t read one about becoming and adult!”

“But I have!” Kyungsoo protested, “It’s different in the books!”

“Then what do these books talk about that have you so confused?"

The young prince shrugged, “They’re all about falling in love and meeting someone who makes you feel ‘aroused’...” Kyungsoo paused, seemingly thinking of something; Chanyeol braced himself for the upcoming question.

“Chanyeollie?” He started, “What is ‘aroused’?”

The wolf, albeit prepared for the question, was at a loss for words; he dropped his jaw and stared at the young prince with widened eyes, “Umm…” he started, “It’s….” He groaned, “It’s something I’m not qualified to tell you.”

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asked, “But haven’t you been aroused before? You _are_ an adult, right?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol sputtered out, “But I’m not an expert on being one!” He stood up and looked down at the prince on the floor before doing something that he felt anyone in his situation would have done, “If you wanna know about all those things, just ask Yifan,” he turned to leave, “He’s an expert.”

“He is?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Yep,” Chanyeol sputtered out, “Now if you’d excuse me, I have somewhere I have to be.” Not even letting Kyungsoo get another word in, Chanyeol shifted into his wolf and ran off somewhere.

Kyungsoo sighed in frustration and leaned against the wall. He supposed that he could just find a book that would explain everything to him, but there were so many books, all without order, that it would just be easier to ask the dragon when he returned. He looked over his shoulder at the sunlight filtering in through the window. It was very obviously the middle of summer, but without a calendar, he had no idea of telling what month it was.

Time seemed to pass in it’s own way here; Kyungsoo supposed that he had been here for around a decade now, but it felt as though he had been here his entire life. By now he no longer remembered what his own mother even looked like, let alone his father or any of his siblings. He didn’t even feel like a prince. He couldn’t say that he missed his old life, because he wasn’t able to recall any of it. _Would it have been easier?_ He asked himself, _If I had grown up with my family, if it was my father telling me what was I’m going through? Does my family think of me? Do they ever wonder about me?_

Turning around, Kyungsoo leaned against the window sill and rested his head in his arms. He sighed; his eyes following the particles of dust lazily floating about. Kyungsoo thought about how being here, in the tower, made him feel just like the dust, aimlessly floating around without purpose. He wondered how he felt about that, not having a purpose. He was born a prince, and princes had a purpose, right? But what was he doing? up here isolated from everyone but an eccentric shapeshifter and an evasive dragon?

He began to think of Yifan; how the dragon interacted with Chanyeol, how he would go away for long periods of time, how he rarely spoke, what his voice sounded like when he did. If the young prince were to write in a book everything the dragon had said to him, it would only be a few pages long. Kyungsoo wished Yifan would speak with him more. Sure, when he was younger the dragon would take time to sometimes read to him, but Yifan stopped doing that by the time Kyungsoo had turned ten, saying that he had grown much to big for such a childish activity.

Turning his gaze out to the trees; Kyungsoo watched as a gentle breeze rustled the leaves. When Yifan was around, he was allowed to have the windows open. In that moment, Kyungsoo desperately wanted to feel the breeze. He sighed, thinking about how nice it’d be to be able to go out into the green and walk until the forest ends.

That evening, Kyungsoo had long since fallen asleep against the window sill by the time Yifan had returned home. The dragon sighed into his hand upon seeing how the young prince had fallen asleep. Chanyeol wasn’t there either, which meant that he’d have to scold him for leaving Kyungsoo unattended while he was away. He had brought home another present for the boy, but it seemed that he’d have to wait until later to give it to him.

He was about to turn and go into his bedchamber when the thought of leaving Kyungsoo alone on the floor like that changed his mind. He set his things on the ground and very gently scooped the young prince into his arms, trying his very best not to wake him, and carried him down the hall.

He was just barely pushing open the door to Kyungsoo’s room with his foot when the young prince began to stir in his arms. Not knowing what to do, Yifan froze in his tracks, foot still pressed against the door.

Kyungsoo blinked several times, visibly registering the situation before looking up at the dragon with a puffy, sleep filled gaze, “You’re back.”

“Hm?” Yifan looked down into Kyungsoo’s eyes, “What did you say?”

“I said,” Kyungsoo yawned and threw his arms around Yifan’s shoulders, burying his face in the dragon’s chest. “You’re back.”

“Yeah,” Yifan said, stepping into the room, “I just got back. I wasn’t gone that long, was I?” He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, still holding Kyungsoo in his arms.

“It was almost two weeks,” Kyungsoo whined, “I was beginning to miss you.”

“But Chanyeol-” Yifan started.

“What about Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo interrupted, “He’s always here, yeah, but what’s that supposed to mean?” the prince yawned, “Just because I’m not the only person here doesn’t mean I can’t get lonely. You try being stuck up here with only one other person for company and see how you like it.”

“But I-”

“But nothing,” Kyungsoo pushed himself away from Yifan but didn’t do anything to get out of his hold, “You’re always out and about; if you’re not out being with other people then what _are_ you doing? You don’t ever seem to go to the same place twice, and you never talk about what you do or hardly where you even go! Is it that hard to talk about it?”

Yifan looked down at the young boy, confused as to why he was even angry with him. Hadn’t he given Kyungsoo everything he wanted? He had Chanyeol to talk to, a lifetime supply of reading material, and exotic gifts from all around the globe. Why was he so discontent with everything? He blinked several times in disbelief before speaking up, “What is it you want?” he asked, “Why are you so unhappy?” 

“That’s it!” Kyungsoo said, “I don’t want any _thing_. All I want is to talk to you. I feel like I’m a burden to you most of the time because all you seem to do is ignore me. I’ve been here nearly ten years and all I know about you is that you hoard books and like to be anywhere but here.”

“What do you mean?” Yifan asked, hardly even letting Kyungsoo’s words settle in.

Heaving a defeated sigh, Kyungsoo sat up and looked the dragon right in the eyes, “What I mean is that I’m sick and tired of living with a stranger.”

“So you want to be my friend?”

“If that’s how you wanna think of it, then yes, I want to be your friend, is that too much to ask for?" 

Yifan paused, contemplating Kyungsoo’s request. He could see now that the human was lonely. He still didn’t understand why, but he could at least see how Kyungsoo was feeling. He took a deep breath, “It’s not,” he said, “It’s not too much.” 

Kyungsoo looked into Yifan’s eyes again, calming himself with steady breaths, “I’m sorry.” He muttered, “I didn’t mean to push it, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 

“Nonono! It’s perfectly okay!” Yifan tried to reassure the other, “I was just afraid that you wouldn’t want to be my friend. I thought that you were happy with the way things are. This is all my fault, for misunderstanding you.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Yifan said, “To make it up to you, I’ll answer and and every question you have for me.” 

“You will?” Kyungsoo asked, in obvious disbelief.

“Yep,” Yifan said, “All of them.”

“Alright,” Kyungsoo said, climbing off of Yifan’s lap and crawling back to sit against the headboard of the bed, “How old are you?”

“Five hundred thirty-two, I’m turning five hundred thirty-three this autumn.” Yifan answered, moving to sit beside Kyungsoo. 

Kyungsoo mused over his answer for a moment before asking another question, “How did you meet Chanyeol?”

“I purchased him.” Yifan answered noncommittally, as if it was something anybody would have done. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asked in disbelief, “Is that even okay?”

Yifan shrugged, “I was travelling in the north and people up there really like dogfighting. They were having an auction and as soon as I saw Chanyeol I knew that I couldn’t let him get dragged into that.”

“But Chanyeol’s not a dog.”

“True, but people like to use shifters in their sick activities because they’re stronger than regular animals.”

“How long ago was this?” Kyungsoo asked.

“About thirty years ago.” 

“So how old is Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo asked.

“I don’t know,” Yifan shrugged again, “Shifters age differently than dragons and humans so I wouldn’t have a clue, but he’d probably tell you if you ask him.”

Kyungsoo nodded, “What do you like to eat?”

“Everything.” Yifan answered, “I’m not picky.”

“Not even a favorite food?” Kyungsoo asked, sounded somewhat disappointed with the dragon’s answer.

“Nope,” Yifan said, “But I guess I like meat a little bit more than everything else.”

“Well ok then,” Kyungsoo said, thinking of his next question. He looked up at the tapestry hanging on his wall. The dragon had given it to him a couple years ago when he was in the north. It was an abstract pattern of greens and blues; it reminded him of the forest outside the window, “What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue.” Yifan looked over towards the tapestry and pointed to one of the textiles; it was a deep, earthy kind of blue, “Like that kind.”

“That’s a nice color.” Kyungsoo commented.

“That’s why it’s my favorite,” Yifan bluntly pointed out.

Kyungsoo laughed, “Thanks for that, Mr. Obvious.”

“Mr. Obvious?” Yifan asked incredulously, pointing to himself, “I thought I was Mr. Dragon!”

Kyungsoo felt his face flush; he hadn’t used that term in years, not since Chanyeol had called it childish. He pushed Yifan on the shoulder, “You stop that right now.”

“Or what?” Yifan asked, “Is the little prince gonna teach Mr. Dragon a lesson?”

“You know what?” Kyungsoo asked sitting up on his knees, “Maybe I will.” He said before latching on to Yifan’s back and wrestling the dragon into the mattress. Yifan, not wanted to be beat so easily fought back, and soon enough, the pair were wrestling on the bed. Obviously both bigger and stronger than Kyungsoo, Yifan held back and let the young prince have the upper hand. The fight was over almost as quickly as it started, the two of them rolling on their backs, Kyungsoo panting for breath.

Kyungsoo and Yifan stared up at the ceiling, none of them saying anything. The young prince let his eyes trace the patterns in the stones, wondering who had put them there. The design itself was, like the tapestry, abstract, but the pattern was simplistic, concentric rings starting with the smallest one in the middle. He looked over at Yifan and noticed that the dragon was seemingly doing the same thing.

“So,” Kyungsoo started, “Do you know who built this tower?”

“No idea,” Yifan said, “It was here when I showed up.”

“And when was that?”

“A little over four hundred years ago I think.” Yifan looked over at Kyungsoo, “It was originally in your family, but they let me have it because it hadn’t been used in centuries. I think it used to be an important academic retreat or something like that, but now only three people know where it is.”

“Who?” Kyungsoo asked, curious to know who else knew of the whereabouts of the tower.

“Well that’s a dumb question,” Yifan muttered, “It’s obviously you, me, and Chanyeol.”

“And why is that?”

“No idea,” Yifan answered, “Guess people just stopped coming here as time went on. There’s not much to see here but some grumpy old dragon I guess.”

“So you used to have visitors?” Kyungsoo asked, reaching his arm out to trace the ceiling pattern with his finger. 

“Oh yeah!” Yifan said, sitting up, “Lots of them, people used to come around here _all_ the time. It was really great! It was all a real big celebration for everyone, you know? Going to the Dragon’s tower! Used to be a great deal back in the day, but now the royal family won’t even go as far as to bring the middle child to the tower, and instead I have to go all the way to pick them up in the woods. Do you know how far out of the way that is?” 

“Not really.” Kyungsoo said, considering that he was asleep when he came to the tower, “Is it really that far?”

“Yeah,” Yifan sighed out, “Do you know why your people stopped showing up?”

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo sat up, “I wish I had an answer, but I don’t.”

“I see,” Yifan flopped back on the bed, allowing a moment of silence to pass before asking “Do you like it here?”

Kyungsoo looked down at Yifan, taking a moment to think about his answer, “I don’t know,” he said, “It’s not perfect, but I’m not in any rush to leave.”

“That’s reassuring, I guess.” Yifan responded, stretching his arms above his head, “What do you think will make it better? Is it the decor?” he asked, “I know it’s a bit outdated, but I think it’s quite charming.”

Kyungsoo laughed, “I don’t think it’s that kind of problem.”

“Is it the collections?” Yifan asked, anxiously sitting up, “Is there not enough room for you? I can try to bring back less things, but it’s so hard. Like recently I’ve been getting into sticks, and I don’t know why. They’re so cool, did you know that?”

“Like dried twigs?” Kyungsoo raised a brow, “Is that why you recently closed off the room next to the book room? For a new collection?”

Yifan nodded, “It used to not be this bad,” He linked his fingers together, rubbing his thumb against his palm, “But as soon as the people stopped showing up, I got really lonely.” he confessed, unable to look the prince in the eyes.

“Hey hey,” Kyungsoo said, placing his palm on Yifan’s back, “It’s okay to be lonely. I get lonely too." 

“You do?” Yifan looked over at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo nodded, “Is that what you do when you go out then?” He asked, “Try to make yourself feel less lonely?”

Yifan nodded, “I’m sorry.” he said, “I’ve been really selfish haven’t I? Thinking only about myself and how to make me feel better, not even realizing how you must have felt, stuck away in this tower with only one other person to talk to.”

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo said, leaning his head on the dragon’s shoulder, “I forgive you. It’s okay if you go out, but don’t be afraid to tell me what’s going on out there. About all these places you go and all the things you see. All I have in here are books and Chanyeol. And Chanyeol doesn’t do much of anything to be honest.”

Yifan laughed at that, “And you don’t have to be afraid to talk to me. You know, I might look scary with these eyebrows and all, but my main job is to protect you, so don’t be worried that I won’t listen.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo asked, a smile forming on his lips.

“Really.” Yifan smiled back.

“Then can you do one thing for me?”

“What would that be?” Yifan asked.

Kyungsoo crawled over to the table beside his bed and grabbed the book he had started reading the other day, “Can you read to me?”

Making his way to sit beside Kyungsoo, Yifan smiled, “Of course I can.”

That night, Yifan read to Kyungsoo long into the night and in to the early hours of the morning. The young prince plastered to the dragon’s side like a magnet. His eyes flowing from the text to Yifan’s face and back again. The tapestries on the wall seemingly closing in around them; the soft silks of the bed linens shrouding them away from the rest of the world. That night, Kyungsoo let the thought that he was growing up drift away in the back of his mind, with the forgotten questions he had been meaning to ask.

 

––––––––––

 

By the time Kyungsoo turned 18, he had convinced both Yifan and Chanyeol that the tower was severely suffering from a lack of foliage. Over the course of two or so years, the young prince had started a collection of his own. Every corner of the tower that wasn’t dominated by Yifan’s things was now home to one of Kyungsoo’s many plants. His favorite by far had to be the geraniums he had put out by the window. They were low maintence and the way the sunlight filtered through the red petals reminded him of a warm flame. 

Chanyeol wasn’t as big on the geraniums ad Kyungsoo was, claiming that they made his allergies act up which everyone found to be strange because Chanyeol left behind a lot of hair whenever he was about. Yifan, on the other hand, having quickly warmed up to the presence of the all the plants invading his tower, liked the pearl plants the best. He would always tell Kyungsoo that they seemed to have a mind of their own with the way they hung down from the pots Kyungsoo had ordered the dragon to hang from the ceiling.

It was on a lazy afternoon in early autumn, sitting among his plants, when Kyungsoo’s relationship with Yifan changed forever. Chanyeol and Yifan had gone out to the nearest town to buy some more food when the young prince had noticed that one of them had left a book out on the window sill. Figuring that it was just some old storybook, Kyungsoo decided that it wouldn’t hurt to skim through it a bit, to see what the other two liked to read.

As soon as Kyungsoo grabbed the book, he could tell that it had been read many times. The cover, presumably leather, was soft to the touch and frayed at the edges; the prince figured that it was a favorite. With this mindset, Kyungsoo opened the book with high expectations as to how it would turn out. However, upon reading the first page, Kyungsoo discovered that this was not a book, but a journal– Yifan’s journal. Feeling somewhat guilty at holding such a personal artifact, Kyungsoo wanted to put the book down and never look at it again, but another part of him, the one that thought Yifan had told him everything, was curious. _It couldn’t hurt to take just a quick peek._ He told himself, ignorant as to what truly laid within the pages.

For the most part, Kyungsoo was right in his prediction; the journal mostly contained documents of the dragon’s travels: the places he had been, people he met, how old he was at the time, what items caught his fancy, bits of languages he had heard, and even a few crude sketches of what he had seen. Another section was dedicated to the times when people would come visit him in the tower. There were elaborate passages detailing grandiose parties from times long before Kyungsoo was born.

But about halfway through, when Yifan was about three hundred years old (Kyungsoo assumed since this section had no age listed), the tone of his words changed. At about this time, Yifan had met someone, someone he had fallen in love with. The dragon hadn’t given this person a name, instead calling them The Second Prince. Much of this section was written in verse, poems for someone who had most likely never read them.

Kyungsoo read and reread these poems several times over, muttering the words between his lips. He knew these words weren’t for him, and that what he was doing was a gross invasion of a secret that Yifan had probably intended to take to his grave, but every word inked onto the weathered parchment tugged at Kyungsoo’s heart in a way that no book had ever done before. The Yifan tucked between these pages was passionate, he was young and full spirit, ready to share what he had to offer with the world and then some. However, despite all his fervor, this Yifan’s love had gone unnoticed, unrequited, left to rot in the corner of an empty tower.

After this section, Kyungsoo had noticed that Yifan slowly began to write less and less about his visitors and more and more about his travels. This, The Second Prince, was the turning point in the Dragon’s life. It was why the feeling of loneliness always hung in the air when the dragon was around. It was why he had travelled so much when Kyungsoo was younger. Kyungsoo had thought that he had understood Yifan, but he now realized that he knew nothing about the dragon in the tower.

Slowly, Kyungsoo closed the book, hoping to keep what was left of Yifan’s secret safe between the two covers, and cried.

Later that afternoon, when Yifan and Chanyeol returned home, Kyungsoo was still sitting in front of the book, staring at it with blank eyes. Yifan didn’t say anything to him, but Kyungsoo understood that Yifan knew what he had done. The dragon simply walked over to the prince and picked the book up off the floor and returned to his room. Kyungsoo swallowed down a lump forming in his throat. There was no word to describe what he was feeling in that moment. Chanyeol, not knowing what to do and having nothing to say, shifted in to his wolf and curled up on the floor beside Kyungsoo, allowing the human to bury his face in his fur, much like he had when he first arrived at the tower.

Kyungsoo knew somehow, that not even Chanyeol knew of what had happened to Yifan, and he made no attempt to test his theory. Running his fingers through Chanyeol’s fur, Kyungsoo felt the tears coming back to him. _How long?_ He asked himself, _How long had he been hurting? Why didn’t he tell me about this? But what right do I have to know?_ Kyungsoo cared for Yifan. The dragon had done so much for him, even if they started off a bit rocky. He had sacrificed so much for Kyungsoo; he hadn’t gone abroad in three months, choosing instead to spend lazy summer days with Kyungsoo and help him out with his plants. _It must’ve been so hard,_ Kyungsoo thought to himself, _to stay in the same place where your heart had been broken for so long_. The prince suddenly began to feel selfish, so much so that he was ready to give everything to the dragon so that he’d be able to feel better, even if just a little bit. But Kyungsoo knew that that was all wishful thinking on his part.

By the time Kyungsoo had stopped crying, the sun was beginning to sit on the horizon. He sat up to see that Chanyeol had long since fallen asleep. Rubbing his eyes, Kyungsoo stood up and walked over to the one door that he had never once knocked on. His hands looked so small against the warm mahogany. He tapped on it twice, so gently that it could barely be heard before speaking.

“Yifan.” His voice shook; never in his life had Kyungsoo been this nervous. 

No response.

“I…” Kyungsoo started, letting the words he wanted to say clog the back of his throat.

The door creaked suddenly, slowly swinging open. Yifan stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable, “You don’t have to be sorry.” He said, ushering the prince into his room and closing the door behind them, “It really is my fault for leaving my book out there like that.” he sat down on the edge of his bed, ushering for Kyungsoo to join him, “I had just wanted to sketch some of the plants, and then this happened,” he chuckled, but it wasn’t filled with the familiar warmth Kyungsoo was used to feeling from his laughter, “Guess there’s no more hiding from you.”

Sitting next to Yifan, Kyungsoo hesitantly reached his hand out and placed it over the dragon’s, “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, I shouldn’t have read through it. I wanted to put it down, but I couldn’t stop. I’m sorry.” He said, “I know you told me I don’t have to be sorry, but I am,” he sighed, “I don’t even know what I’m sorry for at this point.”

After that, a blanket of silence draped over the two of them. Neither of them having a clue what to say. Kyungsoo ran his thumb over Yifan’s knuckles, hoping to get his feelings across, but how are you supposed to comfort someone who’s been suffering for more than three of your lifetimes? After what felt like forever, Yifan flipped his hand around and laced their fingers together; Kyungsoo made no move to pull them apart.

“They were a lot like you, you know?” Yifan’s voice cut through the silence, “I almost couldn’t believe it at first. You have the same eyes, the way you look at me, your voice, it’s all very familiar. It’s strange.”

“I’m sorry…” Kyungsoo muttered, “It must’ve hurt so much to be around me then…”

“Don’t be,” Yifan flashed Kyungsoo a crooked smile, “It feels like I’ve been given a second chance.”

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asked.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Yifan started, “Would you come with me?" 

“Where to?”

“You’ll see.” Yifan said, standing up from the bed, his hand still in Kyungsoo’s, “We’ll have to fly there, but it won’t take that long." 

“Wait,” Kyungsoo said, “Outside?”

The dragon nodded, “Follow me.”

Kyungsoo nodded, following the dragon through multiple twisting corridors until they eventually made it to a large brass door. Kyungsoo had never seen this door before; he supposed that it was the door that led to the outside. He suddenly grew very nervous. He hadn’t stepped foot outside in over thirteen years. As Yifan pushed open the door, Kyungsoo braced himself. Frozen in his spot, he hadn’t even noticed that the dragon had stepped foot out into the early evening.

“Are you coming?” Yifan asked, holding out a hand. 

“Uh… yeah.” Kyungsoo sputtered out, nervously stepping out onto the grass. The grass felt foreign to his bare feet, the cool blades tickling the sides of his heels. He took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh evening breeze. His clothes, loose and meant for the perpetual warmth of the tower felt thin and useless as the breeze rustled them about. He shivered a bit, but not so much that the other took notice. Looking up, Kyungsoo smiled at the early evening stars just beginning to show themselves through the dark blue sky.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Yifan asked, looking up at the same stars.

“It is.” Kyungsoo said, turning to look back at the dragon, “So we’re flying?” 

“Yeah,” Yifan removed the bag from his shoulder, “Can you carry this? It has a change of clothes in it.”

“Change of clothes?” Kyungsoo asked, taking the bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” Yifan said before taking a few steps back into the middle of the clearing, “Watch out.” was the last thing he said before he abruptly shifted his shape.

Kyungsoo could hear the sound of Yifan’s body rearranging itself; he covered his ears and closed his eyes until he thought it was over. He had never actually seen Yifan change forms, but he figured that the only way to really brace himself for it would be to watch it happen. When he opened his eyes, Yifan was gone, and before him stood a magnificent silver dragon. His scales gently reflected the starlight. The horns that stuck from his head reminded Kyungsoo of the cowry necklace Yifan had given him when he was seven. If he had known nothing about dragons, Kyungsoo would have thought that Yifan had blown ice rather than fire.

Yifan lowered his neck, not needing words to tell Kyungsoo what he wanted him to do. Kyungsoo inhaled deeply before slowly stepping through the grass and hopping onto the back of the dragon. Wrapping his arms around the strong neck, Kyungsoo made sure to hold on for dear life, nodding when he was finally ready for Yifan to take off.

The scariest part by far had to be the initial take off. Kyungsoo had never flown before, so he had no idea what to expect. He had felt nauseous at first, too scared to look up from where he had his head buried in Yifan’s neck, but after a while, his curiosity got the better of him, and he looked up, allowing his eyes to scan the tops of the trees they were flying over. Kyungsoo slowly began to feel a newfound sense of freedom by being up in the air. He shouted without reason, high on the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair, hoping that it wasn’t too loud for Yifan.

After what felt like the shortest moment in Kyungsoo’s life, Yifan began to descend, flying lower and lower until they eventually landed. It was unexpectedly smoother than Kyungsoo had expected, but he figured that Yifan did have over five hundred years of flying experience behind him.

Sliding down off of the dragon’s neck, Kyungsoo felt his feet touch against something new. Once he was back on his feet, the prince took a deep breath; the air smelled like salt, and once the blood in his head returned to the rest of his body, he could hear roaring in the background. He was about to turn around when he felt Yifan’s head press against his chest. He looked down, “Oh yeah,” he said, removing the bag from his shoulder and hanging it over Yifan’s nose, snorting at how it looked, “Here.”

Kyungsoo then turned around, so that he could give Yifan the privacy he needed, while also getting a good look at what was making that loud sound. In the pale light of the moon, Kyungsoo turned to look at the largest body of water he had ever seen in his entire life. He thought back to what Yifan had said about the sea. _Was this the sea?_ Kyungsoo asked himself. He took a step closer, immediately stepping back when he felt his feet become wet.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Yifan asked, coming up to step behind Kyungsoo, placing his hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders; the young prince moved his left hand up to meet Yifan’s.

“It’s loud.” Kyungsoo confessed, “I had never thought it would be like this.”

Yifan chuckled, some of the familiar warmth returning to his voice, “You get used to it after a bit. Shall we sit?”

“Where?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Just on the ground,” Yifan said, plopping on the ground behind him, “A little sand never hurt nobody." 

“Sand?” Kyungsoo asked, sitting on the earth next to the dragon, “Is that what this is called?” the prince grabbed some sand in his fist.

“Yeah,” Yifan said, “Should we bring some back with us?”

Kyungsoo chuckled, “I don’t think we need any sand back home.”

“Home?” Yifan sounded confused, “You think of the tower as home?”

“Well yeah,” Kyungsoo said, leaning to rest his head on the dragon’s shoulder, “I’ve lived there most of my life, and I don’t think I can really picture myself anywhere else.”

Yifan mused over Kyungsoo’s words for a moment, “That sounds nice.” he said, looking out towards the sea, “Have you ever thought of love?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject. 

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asked, grabbing another handful of sand.

“Are you sad that this life hasn’t given you a chance to fall in love?”

“Are you asking this because I’m unable to get married?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Kind of,” Yifan began to curl and uncurl his toes in the sand, “You’ve read books about love, right?”

“I have,” Kyungsoo confessed, “You have lots of books about love.”

“And?”

Kyungsoo thought of his answer; he knew what he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to bring up anything that would hurt Yifan, “I don’t think any of those writers have felt a love as strong as you once did.” Kyungsoo felt the dragon stiffen beside him, “I’m sorry,” he said, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Nono, it’s okay.” Yifan said, “Sometimes I just feel as if my love wasn’t strong enough, and that things would have turned out differently if I had just loved a little bit more.”

“Don’t think like that.” Kyungsoo said, flickering his eyes to look at the stars for a moment, and then looking back out towards the sea, “Is that why you take the middle children, so you feel like you can have another chance?”

Yifan shrugged, “I guess, but I haven’t been able to feel the same way about anyone since then. Maybe my heart’s been frozen in that time, unable to go forward.”

“Do you want to move on?” Kyungsoo asked, placing his hand on Yifan’s knee.

“The only thing I want is to move on.” Yifan sighed, “To be able to love like that again.”

“Well,” Kyungsoo started, “I can’t go back and make everything right, nor can I fix it all, but I will do everything I can to help you. You’ve been nothing but good to the world, to Chanyeol, to me, and you don’t deserve to be lonely, not for one moment longer.” 

“Really?” Yifan asked, not knowing how to respond.

“I mean it, every bit.” Kyungsoo said, turning his head and pressing a soft kiss to the dragon’s cheek.

 

––––––––––

 

Over the next few months, Kyungsoo made sure to keep himself glued to Yifan’s side as much as possible. Wherever Yifan was in the tower, so was Kyungsoo. Whether it be in the main room, tending to the plants, or in one of the many collection rooms, simply admiring everything the dragon had hoarded over the years, the pair were together. Kyungsoo had even convinced Yifan to take on a few creative projects such as making flower arrangements that incorporated his extensive stick collection. Chanyeol, while not fully understanding the sudden change in Kyungsoo and Yifan’s relationship, liked that the dragon seemed to be smiling more than he had been before.

In about mid-winter, Kyungsoo had dragged Yifan into another project, organizing the bookroom. On the first day, not much got done other than staring at books; both Kyungsoo and Yifan pointing out and discussing ones that they have already read. On the second day, Kyungsoo dragged Yifan back into the room, this time with a plan.

“Alright,” he said, walking over to the mountain of literature, “How about we start by organizing them by genre and then further organize each genre into alphabetical order?”

“But,” Yifan said picking up a random book, “Why genre? If I want a book, I’m going to look for it by the title.”

“But what if you don’t know the name of the book you want to read,” Kyungsoo picked up a different book, “But you know that you want to read a mystery, then what would you do?”

“Look for a book whose title sounds like it could be a mystery.”

“But that’ll take too long,” Kyungsoo complained, “By the time you find it, you won’t even feel like reading anymore.”

“That seems more like a problem with your attention span.” Yifan joked, flipping the book in his hand to look at the spine.

“Well not all of us can be five hundred something years old.”

“Five hundred thirty six,” Yifan corrected.

“Whatever,” Kyungsoo said, flipping open the book in his hands to the middle pages, quickly scanning the words, “How about we let Chanyeol decide?”

“But Chanyeol doesn’t even read.” Yifan said, “And besides, is he even here?”

“Probably not,” Kyungsoo said, “He said that he was going somewhere today.”

“Hmmmm,” Yifan hummed, “how about we just organize it all by colors? That’ll be the easiest.”

“True, but what good’ll it be?” Kyungsoo asked, “When it comes time to find a book?”

“Listen here,” Yifan said in a mock serious tone, “This is my tower, these are my books, and I think it’ll look pretty if we put them in order of color. Now I don’t go around telling you how to put your plants around, do I?”

Kyungsoo laughed, “But that one time you kept trying to move my fern into your room!”

“That fern and I have a connection!” Yifan protested before picking up another book, “Besides it’ll be easier to keep the system if it’s by color." 

“True,” Kyungsoo said, putting his book back in the pile, “Colors it is then.”

Yifan smiled.

By the end of the day, they had barely made it a quarter of the way through the pile simply due to the sheer amount of books and the occasional argument at to what shade of green that one book _really_ was. As soon as the sun went down and Yifan went around lighting all the torches, the pair sat on the newly cleared section of floor to admire their handywork.

“Never would I have ever thought that I’d even get around to organizing this room,” Yifan confessed. “It actually feels great, like I’m moving in all over again.”

Kyungsoo laughed, “Well we kind of are.” he said, “It’s like remodeling.”

“Remodeling.” Yifan said, letting the word hang about in the air, “I like that.”

“I do too,” Kyungsoo said, “It’s like starting over without throwing anything away.”

“Would you ever throw everything away?” Yifan asked, laying on his back to look up at the ceiling, “Change out this life for a new one?”

“Never.” Kyungsoo said, looking down at the dragon, “Would you?”

“I used to think so,” Yifan said, “And sometimes I still do, but at this very moment, I wouldn’t change a thing.” He sat back up, “I haven’t been this happy in who knows how long.”

Kyungsoo smiled, “I’m happy too. Being here...” he paused, thinking of the right words, “My heart is full.”

“Kyungsoo,” Yifan wrung his hands together nervously, “Are you sure you don’t feel as though you’ve missed out on love?” 

“No silly,” Kyungsoo placed both his hands on Yifan’s cheeks, bringing his gaze down to look him in the eyes, “Because I love you.” he said before slowly bringing their lips together for a chaste kiss.

Yifan’s whole face flushed, he made no move to get away from Kyungsoo’s hold. He blinked several times, “When?” He blinked again, “When did you find out?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, “I was just thinking about it, about my whole life I guess, when I realized that I couldn’t imagine a life without you. You mean so much to me. I mean, I love Chanyeol too, but my love for him and my love for you are different. Even with Chanyeol around, I still get lonely when you’re away.” He moved his hands from Yifan’s face and held him in a hug, “I mean it.” he said, “I’ve read so many, too many, books about love,” he paused, taking the opportunity to rub small circles into Yifan’s back, “But I don’t think they’ve gotten it right, because the feeling I get when I’m with you isn’t what people feel in the books. It’s not a heat. It’s not butterflies. It’s comfort. It’s home. That’s what I feel with you.”

Yifan’s whole body began to tremble, “No one’s ever said that to me before.”

“Well it’s never too late to start,” Kyungsoo said, leaning in to pepper Yifan’s face with kisses and intermittent ‘I love you’s.’ Once he was over his initial shock, Yifan began to kiss back. With just as much, if not more, passion as Kyungsoo.

Once they had taken a quick break from each other’s lips, Yifan spoke up, “I think it’s safe to say that I think I love you too.”

Kyungsoo smiled, “There’s no need to rush anything.” He kissed Yifan again, “We can take this slow.” He stood from the floor and took Yifan’s hand, “After all, we do have all the time in the world." 

Standing up, Yifan wrapped Kyungsoo in another hug, “We do, don’t we?”

Kyungsoo laughed in Yifan’s hold, burying his face in the dragon’s chest. Completely happy to just stand there and savor Yifan’s warm embrace, but Yifan seemed to have other plans. Leaning down and placing his one hand behind Kyungsoo’s knees, Yifan lifted the prince in a bridal style and carried him down the hall. Opening the door to his room with his foot, he carried Kyungsoo inside and gently placed him on his bed and crawled on top of him.

“Are we going to?” Kyungsoo asked, savoring the word on the tip of his tongue.

“No,” Yifan said, running his hand over Kyungsoo’s cheek leaning in for another kiss, “Not today. I just want to be close,” he laid his body over Kyungsoo’s, burying his face in the crook of his neck, “I don’t think my heart will be able to take anything else right now.”

“Me either, to be honest,” Kyungsoo confessed, “I like it like this anyway,” he said, “Even if you’re a bit heavy.” he joked.

“I’m not heavy…” Yifan whined into Kyungsoo’s neck before going to suckle on the skin a bit, feeling as though he won an unspoken contest when Kyungsoo placed his hands on his back.

“It’s just the winter weight then?” Kyungsoo asked with a laugh.

“Well I haven’t gone out in months,” Yifan said, “Flying’s a real workout, you know?”

“I wouldn’t,” Kyungsoo answered, “I don’t fly much.”

“Well I can change that,” Yifan offered with a smirk.

“Not now,” Kyungsoo whined, “I’m tired.”

“True, how about after we finish the bookroom?”

“Where’ll we go?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Who knows?” Yifan rolled off of Kyungsoo, “We’ll figure it out when we get there.”

Kyungsoo climbed on top of Yifan and rested his head on his chest, “I’m holding you to that.” he said.

“Oh you are?” Yifan wriggled his eyebrows, “And how are you gonna do that?”

“I don’t know yet.” Kyungsoo said, “It’s a secret.”

After that, the conversation died down and Kyungsoo focused on the heat of Yifan’s body against his own. They looked into each other’s eyes, reading the unspoken words etched into their irises. Occasionally, Kyungsoo’s gaze would dart to Yifan’s lips, admiring how his kisses had left them slightly bruised, but never for long. He didn’t react when Yifan’s hands snaked around his waist and began to slowly move up and down his lower back. If he had been paying attention to the window at all, Kyungsoo would have seen that it had started to snow, the heavy white flakes just beginning to cover the landscape.

“So,” Yifan broke the silence, “What now?”

“Well,” Kyungsoo traced his finger along Yifan’s chest, “I have this book I’ve been reading.”

Yifan smiled, “Well what are you waiting for?” he patted Kyungsoo on the head, taking a quick moment to ruffle his hair, “Go get it.”

They spent that night curled up under an impossible amount of blankets, the soft light a candle shrouding them in a gentle warmth. Kyungsoo had curled up on Yifan’s lap, the dragon’s voice soothingly sweet in his ears, lulling him to sleep as Yifan read aloud poems detailing the promise of spring, verses about flowers springing up from the heavy snow of long dark winters, songs of love that had just begun to blossom. During that night, when Kyungsoo finally closed his eyes to go to sleep, head nestled against Yifan’s chest, his heart was overflowing. Never again would he be lonely.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for making it to the end :)))) any comments/kudos/constructive criticisms are welcome. Again to the prompter, I hope this was close to what you had in mind <.<
> 
> <3<3<3


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